Canon City News

A Fremont County Sheriff's Office vehicle is considered a total loss after a Robert Fay, 34, allegedly collided with it. (Fremont County Sheriff's Office / Courtesy Photo)

(Robert Fay)

The man who allegedly set a Coaldale RV on fire Sunday night crashed a stolen truck into a Fremont County Sheriff's Office vehicle after an officer fired shots at him, according to the arrest affidavit.

Robert Lee Fay, 34, of Montrose, was arrested shortly after the incident and currently is held at the Fremont County Jail with a $75,000 cash-only bond on charges of first-degree arson, aggravated motor vehicle theft, criminal attempt to wit: second-degree assault on a peace officer, menacing and reckless endangerment.

He made his first court appearance Tuesday and will return there Thursday for formal charges to be filed.

On Sunday night, he allegedly set a fire at Bighorn RV Resort in Coaldale, destroying a fifth-wheel travel trailer, a pickup truck and a flat-bed trailer holding two ATVs.

The sheriff's office was alerted by a local businessman, the employer of Fay's father, that Fay had stolen his father's 2013 Chevrolet work truck. During the call to officers, he added "that the son may have set fire to his parent's place in Coaldale."

Upon inspection of the scene, according to the affidavit, Deputy Jeremy Amendola "reported finding a tablet of paper containing suicide notes and diluted admission to setting the fire from Robert Fay."

In a news conference Monday, Sheriff Jim Beicker said officers, including Sgt. Mike Miller, began to track Fay through a privately-installed GPS system in the truck. When the vehicle reached Eight Mile Hill near Cañon City, two more officers — Sgt. Megan Richards and Deputy Stephen Jones — responded to the scene.

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The affidavit, written by Detective Mike Jolliffe, included a report narrative written by Jones, who parked his car on the side of U.S. 50 after Miller said the truck was heading his way.

"I was parked on the shoulder for approximately one to two minutes when I saw a white truck heading eastbound toward Cañon City at a high rate of speed," Jones wrote in the report, adding that he and Richards began to pursue Fay.

After the truck was followed for a few hundred yards, the officer wrote, Fay made an abrupt U-turn, coming within a few feet of hitting Richards' patrol vehicle.

As the truck continued, both officers followed until the truck approached Miller's vehicle, which was parked at an angle.

"I noticed that the white truck had started to accelerate its speed and without deviating from its path or stopping, it drove directly toward the parked sheriff's vehicle," Jones wrote. "As the white truck approached the sheriff's vehicle and prior to the collision, I heard three distinct rifle shots."

Jones also wrote that while he didn't know where the shots came from, they "did not deter the driver of the white truck and it continuing on its path."

The truck then collided with the sheriff's office vehicle, "hitting it hard enough to spin the sheriff's vehicle from a facing northeast position to a facing southwest position."

After veering away from the vehicle, the truck came to a stop. Jones wrote that he saw Miller standing on the roadway edge, "with his A.R. 15 aimed at the white truck and driver."

Jones then drew his weapon, as well, and the officers began walking toward the driver's side of the truck. He noticed that Fay had a couple small cuts on his forehead, and the officers began yelling at him to show them his hands.

"Mr. Fay refused to comply, saying that he was hurt and could not move," Jones wrote.

In the end, Richards and Jones secured Fay's hands by pulling them away from his body. He was taken to St. Thomas More Hospital for evaluation.

In an interview, Jolliffe wrote that Richards said she "felt Fay was trying to ram her, which placed her in fear for her life."

Colorado State Patrol trooper Gregory Muse told Jolliffe that both vehicles were destroyed in the accident.

In Monday's news conference, Beicker said the Colorado Bureau of Investigation is looking into the officer-involved shooting.

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